Prof. em. Dr. Nikolaus Amrhein

Nikolaus Amrhein was full Professor of Biochemistry and the Physiology of Plants in the Institute of Plant Sciences at the ETH Zurich beginning in October 1987. He retired end of March 2008.

Nikolaus Amrhein was born on November 12, 1942 in Ründeroth near Cologne, Germany. He studied botany, zoology and biochemistry at the University of Munich and obtained his Ph.D. in 1969 with Professor M. H. Zenk at the Botanical Institute. After two years as research associate in the MSU/AEC Plant Research Laboratory, East Lansing, MI, he became research assistant at the Chair of Plant Physiology of Ruhr University Bochum, obtained his venia legendi for botany in 1974, and was appointed associate professor of plant hormone physiology in 1976. In 1980, he was appointed full professor of plant physiology at Ruhr University, and from 1982 to 1987 he was dean of the faculty of biology. In 1987 he was appointed full professor of plant sciences at the ETH Zurich. From 1992 to 1996 and 1998/99 he was Dean of the Faculty of Biology, from 2003 to 2007 Director of Studies in Biology, Department of Biology. His research focused on metabolic processes in plants, especially the biosynthesis of aromatic amino acids and phenylpropanoid compounds and the enzymes involved in these pathways.